Delaware, USA: RedSea, a Sustainable Agri-Climate-Tech business whose pioneering technology advances commercial farming in hot climates globally, has announced the appointment of Storm van Zyl as its new Chief Financial Officer.
Storm has over 10 years of experience in the agricultural and climate change sectors and joins from Aerobotics – a data analytics company optimising crop performance for farmers globally – where she was CFO and COO. Storm will be based in Cape Town, South Africa. Prior to this, Storm held a senior role at Greenlite Solutions – an agricultural and climate change consultancy firm.
Today’s announcement is further evidence of RedSea’s growth and ambition. It follows the Board appointment of John Keppler – Executive Chairman of the world’s largest producer of wood pellets, Enviva Inc. – as the company continues to attract senior and experienced talent.
Simon Bryant, who was promoted to Company President in January 2023 and has been managing both responsibilities as Chief Financial Officer and President since then, is now focused solely on his critical role as Company President driving revenue, managing the commercial team and implementing the business strategy.
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Speaking on the appointment, Ryan Lefers, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of RedSea, said, “We are excited for Storm to join our team as Chief Financial Officer. Her deep knowledge of the sector positions her ideally to support RedSea, as we continue to grow our global presence and product range – currently deployed in 12 countries on five continents. Storm’s appointment is further evidence of our progress, following the appointment of John Keppler and the recent opening of CACTUS – RedSea’s Centre for Agriculture Climate Technology for Ultimate Sustainability – an innovation and data hub for our global operations.”
Storm van Zyl, Chief Financial Officer of RedSea, said, “It is an honour to join the RedSea team and contribute to its mission to feed the world sustainably. It is a particularly exciting time as growers and governments in hot climate countries, globally, recognise RedSea’s unique competitive advantages. The company’s potential and market opportunity are huge and I look forward to working closely with my new colleagues.”
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“RedSea has developed and commercialised pioneering sustainable agriculture climate technologies for hot climates. Under the brands iyris, Kairos, and Volcano Plant Genetics, RedSea products tackle the real and increasingly urgent challenges of extreme heat and water scarcity in agriculture. RedSea’s hot climate AgTech solutions save water, increase sustainability, and profitability, and increase yields for growers in hot climates globally,” the company claims.
RedSea was awarded the Davidson Prize for its iyris SecondSky transparent heat-blocking roofing materials, reinforcing its reputation and pedigree as a world leader in sustainable agri-climate technology. In recent customer installations, the iyris SecondSky roof was recorded as reducing energy usage by over 40 per cent, water use in irrigation by 30 per cent and improved grower profitability by 28 per cent.
RedSea’s technologies are now deployed and being successfully used by growers in 12 countries. The company’s growing portfolio of high-profile partnerships includes providing sustainable agriculture technologies for greenhouse facilities at leading developers such as Red Sea Global, the UAE’s leading fresh produce and AgTech company – Silal and a strategic manufacturing agreement with the world-leading agricultural plastics manufacturer, Armando Alvarez.
